Areas of Halifax: Buy-to-Let Property Investment Hotspots
Halifax is often thought of as a typically northern working town. So some surprise that it is also now thought to be the Shoreditch of the North!* One thing Halifax definitely doesn’t share with Shoreditch, London, however, is its property prices. Halifax must surely be one of the best value property locations in the north of England.
Why Invest in Halifax?
Halifax is in the county of West Yorkshire, midway between the cities of Leeds and Manchester. Halifax is the largest town in the Calderdale Council area.
Halifax is a one-time centre for wool processing and manufacturing and particularly carpet making. Today the main industries in Halifax are light manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, services, public services, tech. and creative industries, and financial services.
Halifax is known for being the birthplace of the Halifax Building Society, now the Halifax bank. The financial services industry employs thousands of people in the area. The Halifax has corporate offices at Trinity Road in the town centre and the LBG computer data centre at is at Copley.
Other significant employers here include Calderdale Royal Hospital (CRH). The Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust employs around 6,000 people in the area.
Confectionery manufacturer Nestlé has announced plans to invest £9.2 million in its Halifax factory. Quality Street was first created in Halifax in 1936 and up to 12.5 million Quality Street sweets are still manufactured here every week.
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Halifax is also known for Dean Clough, a regenerated former mill complex that was once the largest carpet factory in the world. Dean Clough is now a business centre housing around 150 companies, alongside an event space and shopping and leisure facilities.
Halifax has good transport connections. That makes Halifax attractive as a place to live to those who work in towns and cities like Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Rochdale and Manchester. Halifax is close to the M62 which connects to the rest of West Yorkshire and to Greater Manchester. Halifax railway station has regular services to Bradford, Leeds and Manchester Victoria. There are also direct train services from Halifax to London King’s Cross.
Halifax is the main town in the area for shopping and leisure. Halifax is known for its local independent shops and the Victorian Halifax Borough Market. Sights in Halifax include Eureka! The National Children’s Museum, The Piece Hall, Shibden Hall, Victoria Theatre, Square Chapel Arts Centre and the Calderdale Industrial Museum.
* Halifax has been dubbed the Shoreditch of the North by BBC 6 Music, thanks to its growing food, drink and music scene.
Property Values in Halifax
Halifax is generally a very good value property investment area. Property prices in Halifax are well below the England national average house price and around 20% below the nearby city of Leeds.
According to HM Land Registry data, the average England house price is currently around £268,000. The average Halifax (Calderdale) house price is currently around £167,000. (The average value of a property in Shoreditch, London is around £767,000.)
It is possible to find an even cheaper buy-to-let property in Halifax. Zoopla listings show that it is possible to buy an investment property in Halifax for around £38,000.
Rental Demand in Halifax
Halifax’s letting market mainly offers opportunities to buy to let to local residents and those who come to work in the Halifax and Calderdale area.
Home.co.uk’s Halifax Market Rent Summary says that the average rent in Halifax is £514 per month at the moment. Landlords in the Halifax area could expect to earn an average of £430 PCM for a one-bed property, £548 PCM for a two-bed property, £691 PCM for a three-bed property and £1,499 PCM for a four-bed property according to their statistics.
Halifax buy-to-lets offer buy-to-let investors strong yields. Research on property xyz suggests that investors can find long let gross yields of 5.5% in the Halifax HX1 postcode area, 3.9% in HX2, 4% in HX3, 5.1% in HX4, 6.3% in HX5 and 3.6% in HX6.
Property Investment in Halifax
Population: 90,400 approximately
Average House Price: £167,000
Halifax offers investors a wide range of property types. Typical Halifax house types include traditional stone-built terraces, flats in mid-rise blocks, suburban housing estates and large period properties from the Victorian era. While the inner areas of Halifax are densely populated and urban the outer districts stretch out into the Yorkshire moors and valleys and are semi-rural.
Halifax town centre is mostly a retail and service area rather than a residential area. However, property investors can choose from good value flats and apartment conversions many in attractive old mill buildings. These can have good letting potential to those who work in the town or who need access to Halifax train station.
Just to the west of the town centre are districts such as King Cross, Pellon and Thrum Hall which are lower property price areas. To the southwest of the centre, Savile Park and Skircoat Green are smart and popular residential areas with traditional period properties. These areas are convenient for the town centre and also for those who work at Calderdale Royal Hospital.
Areas to the west and north-west side of Halifax include Illingworth, Illingworth Moor, Mixenden, Mount Tabor, Norton Tower, Ogden, Ovenden and Warley Town. These areas have a range of property types and are lower to mid-price property areas.
The east side of Halifax includes areas such as Akroydon, Boothtown, Hipperholme, Lightcliffe, Northowram, Norwood Green, Shelf, Stone Chair, Shibden, Skircoat Green, Siddal and Southowram. These areas include urban and semi-rural areas. They have good road links into Halifax via the A58 and A647 but also good access to Bradford for those who work in the Bradford area.
The south side of Halifax comprises mostly small towns and rural villages stretching along the River Calder and Calder and Hebble Navigation Canal. These include the small towns of Elland, Ripponden and Sowerby Bridge all of which have a good range of local amenities. Smaller places in this area include Barkisland, Copley, Greetland, Holywell, Norland, Outlane, Rishworth, Sowood, Stainland and West Vale.
These areas benefit from good access to Halifax but also to the M62 motorway towards Leeds and Manchester and are also convenient for Huddersfield to the south. Property here tends to be more expensive than the more central parts of Halifax.
Other Areas to Consider
Property investors who are considering Halifax might also consider Brighouse and Hebden Bridge.
To the southeast of Halifax, Brighouse is a separate small town. Brighouse has its own amenities, a railway station, several large business parks offering jobs and direct access to the M62 at junction 25. it is a good value property area.
There are plans to build two new Garden Villages in Brighouse where there could be over 3,000 new homes.
Hebden Bridge to the west of Halifax is a fashionable, hip small town known for its arts and cultural scene. Hebden Bridge benefits from its own railway station with frequent services around the region including Halifax, Bradford, Leeds and Manchester. Hebden Bridge to Manchester Victoria takes only approx. 35 minutes making it popular with commuters to Manchester.
About Our Data
Note: Population estimates are based on information provided by Localstats. Current average asking prices are taken from HM Land Registry data and Zoopla. Buy-to-let yields by postcode are taken from Property.xyz.